Lowland

Lowland Nepenthes

Lowland Nepenthes are classified by their native growing altitudes of between 0 and 1000 metres.

Temperature

Day: 27-32 / Night: 18-21° C

Light

Lowlanders require less light than their highland cousins, lighting is necessary when keeping them indoors or in terrarium (use broad spectrum lights… such as T5 growlights). They like greenhouses but thrive with diffuse or dappled sunlight for the majority of the day as you would find in a forest or jungle.

Red spots or brown areas on leaves are a sign of sunburn so place them where there is more shade if this occurs. Yellow leaves are also a sign of too much light for your plant.

Thin and spindly growth means your plants require more light.

Water

All Nepenthes are susceptible to damaging effects of minerals and salts in their water.

Distilled, reverse osmotic or clean rain water are the preferred forms however most nepenthes can cope with town water up to 250ppm…. it is however recommended that you flush their substrate out every few weeks to remove any mineral/salt build up if using this form of water (or any other forms such as bore/well or river water).

Nepenthes should never be waterlogged (by using trays or non draining locations). They should also never be allowed to dry out.

They thrive in moist but airy conditions around their root systems which can be achieved with regular watering and the following substrates.

They will also enjoy regular misting with purified water.

Potting (substrate) mix

There is no set mix that covers them all so please experiment with a variety to find the one that keeps moist but not wet and allows air around the roots (porous) without drying out between watering. We find that keeping it simple with two or three ingredients (such as perlite and coconut fibre for drainage/aeration mixed with some sphagnum moss for water retention works well generally in humid areas).

Most of these materials are available Australia wide from Bunnings or larger quantities from garden city plastics.

Your particular mix will depend on the type and size of pots/containers, the plant size and their location, such as windowsills, greenhouses or terrariums as well as your local weather and humidity conditions.

Do not use clay pots as the minerals/salts tend to get retained in them which will in turn make your plants suffer and they wick the moisture out of your substrate.

Keep away from materials with “added nutrients” at all times….look for “power” or “feed and mulch” on the label and put them back on the shelf!

Re-pot your nepenthes every couple of years as the plants outgrow their containers or if the materials break down (spag moss is notorious for this if kept to wet) or the mix dries out too fast….a “middle of the road” mix will keep your plants happy.